The production of a chemically-reducing species is key in many applications such as, for example, the removal of oxides from the surface of substrates and the deposition of thin films. These chemically-reducing species can be generated by dissociating molecular gases with plasma sources such as remote and/or inductive plasma sources.
The chemically-reducing species generated by the plasma source, however, can partially convert the wall material of the plasma source, which is usually an oxide-based material (e.g., ceramic oxide) into a material that can degrade the plasma source's performance (e.g., inconsistent plasma species output). The conversion of the wall material via chemical reduction of the oxide into, for example, a continuous, conductive coating on the inner wall of the chamber of the plasma source can result in degradation of the power coupling to the plasma and the ignition characteristics of the plasma source. Removing the performance degrading material to eliminate these drawbacks can be time-consuming and costly. These problems are particularly acute for medium to high power plasma sources where the output flux of the chemically-reducing species is significant.
Although present plasma sources are functional, they are not sufficiently durable or otherwise satisfactory. Accordingly, a system and method are needed to address the shortfalls of present technology and to provide other new and innovative features for preventing formation of a material that can degrade the performance of a plasma source.